Wall-board.



. J. H. THIUKENS.

WALL BOARD. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 17, 1914.

Patented Dec. 22, 1914.

s. n nk mb nv M M a .v uw. NUSN I d gQ/TNESSES ATTORNEYS UNITED sTATEsrATENToFFIcE.

JOHN H. THICKENS, OF'BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE BEAVER COMPANY,F BUFFALO, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION 0F OHIO.

'WALL-BOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec 22,1914.

Application led September 17, 1914. Serial No. 862,235.

have invented certain new and useful Im,

provements in W all-Board; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

The present invention relates to composite wood pulp sheets suitable foruse in buildings in place of lath and plaster.

It is an object of thepresent invention to produce a. wall board havinghigh rigidity, high tensile strength, low moisture absorption, highresistance to puncture and having good heat-insulating andsound-deadening properties. y

lt is a further object of the invention to produce a composite Wood pulpsheet which is to some extent fire resistant, and which can be usedbehind radiators, and around registers, and the like without danger ofdisintegration from the heat.

It is a furtherobject of the present in vention to produce a wall board,smooth and attractive on the surface, and well suited for ornamentationand so constituted as to be relatively free from warping, buckling andexcessive shrinkage, to the end that the sheets of material may benailed or tacked to the studding of a room and there decorated bypainting or tinting to serve in place of lath and plaster. f

ln accomplishing the foregoing objects and others which will hereinafterappear, I form the composite sheet or wall board with a core of groundwood pulp to which is secured a facing of cooked wood pulp. The core maybe multi-ply if desired, and

the facing may be on both sides of the coreand held in place with asilicate cement. Preferably, the cooked wood facings are ycovered with athin layer of ground wood,

light in color, to facilitate ornamentation.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is madeto the accompanying drawing, wherein- Figure 1 is a section, somewhatdiagram-A matic in character, through a composite sheet made inaccordance with -this invention, and Fig. 2 illustrates a modificationin which the ground wood core is multi-ply.

In the vembodiment illustrated, the com-4 H. THICKENS,

erties.' The core is not, however, highly resistant to moisture nor isitrelatively strong eitherlin tension or to resist puncture. Accordingto the present invention,

this sheet of porous, ground wood pulp is covered with tougher material,preferably in the form of a facing on both sides, consisting of sheets 2and 3 of cooked wood pulp cemented in place at 4 and 5 with a sodiumsilicate cement. cooked wood pulp.may be made from the same kind'of woodas the central core, but insteady of grinding the wood, it is cut intotwo foot lengths and placed in aA steam digester and there cooked insteam for six to eight hours at sixty to eighty pounds pressure, andthen mechanically reduced to the form of pulp inusual manner. CookedThese sheets of wood pulp has a long fiber, and sheets made ,mented withpitch or other similar compound.

It is not necessary that the cooked wood be of the same variety as theground wood for the fact that the wood is cooked before grinding makespossible the production of a strong tough fiber from a large number ofwoods. Consequently, in this way, it is possible to utilize for wallboard purposes many varieties which are not now in use.

In cooking wood to produce the long iibered pulp, the Wood turns brown,Whereas ordinary ground lwood is white, and in order that users of thiscomposite board may decorate the board with light tints, it' has beenvfound desirable to cover the cooked wood layers with thin surfacefacings 6 and 7 of ground wood. These facings may be very thin and theygive to the composlte sheet a smooth and satisfactory surface withoutimpairing substantially its resistance to moisture, puncture and thelike. Preferably they are put on the brown ply during the process ofmanufacture on the board machine and without the use of cement for thebers of the facings, when thus applied, interlock with the brown bersadjacent, to make a good board.

ln the modicati central core is multi-ply and includes a plurality ofground wood sheets 8 and 9 covered on the outside with layers of tough-cooked wood 10 and 11 all fastened together with sodium silicatecement. The dark cooked wood coverings are .faced -with ground woodlayers 12 and 13 as before.

The composite sheetsf above described arel the outer sheets of cookedwood with long,

tough bers closely acked together. The density of the cookedPwoodcoverings keeps down the moisture absorption and so prevents abnormalbuckling, warping and detrimental deformation and thesodium silicatecement holds the several layers against dan er of separation even undertrying heat con itions. v

In commercial manufacture, it is expedient to arrange the core and itscovering sheets with the ber or grain running cross-wise or at an angle,as disclosed in United States Letters Patent No'. 1,063,941, issued June3, 1913, to J. P. Lewis. This arrangement of thev ber structure maylikewise be applied to the several plys of the multi-ply core. By thuscrossingv the grain, the mechanical properties are to some-extentimproved.

l am aware that the proportions and aron shown in Fig. E, thel mamenrous lground wood pulp faced on both'sides with tough cooked wood-pulp-cemented in place.

3. A composite wood pulp sheet comprising a coro of porous ground woodpulp faced with a sheet of tough cooked wood pulp held in place with asodium silicate cement.

4. A composite wood pulp sheet comprising a multi-ply core of porousground wood pulp, said core being covered on each side with a sheet oftough cooked wood pulp held in place with a silicate cement.'

5. A composite wood pulp sheet, consisting of a central core of porous'ground wood, said core being covered on each side with a sheet of toughcooked wood, and a thin surface facing for said cooked wood sheetsconsisting of groundwood, light in color, to facilitate ornamentation.

6. A composite wood pulp sheet, consisting of a'multi-ply core of porousground wood sheets cemented together, sheets of tough cooked woodcovering said corey and secured thereto with a silicate cement, and thinsurface covering for said cooked wood sheets, consisting of ground woodof light color.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN H. THICKENS.

`*Witnessesr l RALPH C. LOWARY, MARGARET LroNs.

